The Heavy Pets writes its music collectively

Thursday

Feb 21, 2013 at 12:01 AM

It's hard to pin down an exact sound for The Heavy Pets and that's because each of the members writes songs.

By JASON GILMERFor the Herald-Journal

It's hard to pin down an exact sound for The Heavy Pets and that's because each of the members writes songs.Thinking of themselves as more of a “song writing collective” than anything else, each member will bring new material to the group.When asked about their musical direction it can be hard to nail down a specific answer.“It can make it easier to get a song together, but makes it harder for us to have a definitive sound. That's the one downside,” vocalist and guitarist Jeff Lloyd said.The Heavy Pets, made up of Lloyd, Mike Garulli (guitar, harmonica, vocals), Jim Wuest (keyboards, vocals), Tony D'Amato (bass) and Jamie Newitt (drums) will open for Perpetual Groove at 10 p.m. Saturday at the Asheville Music Hall.The group, which is big on the festival scene, got heavy play on Sirius' Jam-On station when they first debuted and their self-titled 2010 release was named one of the Huffington Post's top albums of that year.When members of the Florida-based band has a new idea, there's a method to working on the new song.“As a rule everyone gets a chance to hear their song the way they want it played without personal edits,” Lloyd said.Their long-standing friendships (most of them have known one another for more than a decade) helps push past any problems in the writing process.When the group, then a quartet, first began in 2005 they were more into longer jams, instead of the jazz-funk, reggae-tinged rock 'n' roll they now perform.

“We started off as more of a traditional jam band, for lack of a better term,” Lloyd said. “We were writing these long-winded pieces with sections and segments.”Maturation, lineup changes and personal preference has pushed the band in other directions. Lloyd said he doesn't listen to jam music, but is into more new disco now.Last month the group performed with a DJ, who began the show spinning tunes only to be joined one-by-one by members of The Heavy Pets. It's a concept that Lloyd is interested in trying again.The DJs “music fit in with that kick that we're on. It allowed us to do something new,” he said.

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